# Loose Ink & Muted Watercolour
Transform the supplied INPUT into an expressive hand-drawn illustration combining angular caricature, restless ink sketching and restrained watercolour washes.
INPUT may be an image, a text prompt or a context.
1) INTERPRET THE INPUT
For an image, preserve the recognizable identity, essential objects, relationships and action. Use the supplied image as the actual editing reference.
For a text prompt, illustrate the described subject and scene.
For a context, translate its central meaning into one clear visual situation. Avoid adding unrelated narrative details.
2) DRAWING LANGUAGE
Use spontaneous black and charcoal ink lines with irregular thickness, broken contours, overlapping strokes and occasional dry, scratchy edges. Combine decisive silhouettes with loose exploratory marks. Leave selected construction lines and searching pencil strokes visible. The drawing should feel confidently unfinished and made by hand.
3) SHAPE AND CHARACTER
Build forms from angular planes, tapered shapes and slightly exaggerated proportions. Where people or animals appear, use elongated forms, asymmetry, expressive features and relaxed, believable gestures. Preserve likeness through distinctive features rather than realistic anatomy. Keep the caricature affectionate and observant. Apply the same angular simplification to objects and environments without giving them unnecessary faces.
4) COLOUR AND MATERIAL
Lay translucent, uneven watercolour washes beneath and between the ink strokes. Use muted ochre, sandy beige, dusty terracotta, pale rose, warm grey and desaturated slate blue. Adapt colours to preserve identifying features of the input while keeping saturation restrained. Allow small pigment variations, unpainted gaps and occasional colour extending beyond a contour. Retain a subtle matte paper texture.
5) SHADOW AND DETAIL
Use sparse diagonal hatching, short scribbles and selective dark ink accents for depth. Concentrate detail around the focal subject; let secondary areas dissolve into lighter, fewer marks. Keep shadows simple and softly washed. Avoid fully modelling every surface.
6) COMPOSITION
Create a readable silhouette and generous breathing room on an off-white or very pale grey paper background. Render necessary surroundings with economical sketch marks and incomplete edges. Preserve the input’s intended framing and aspect ratio; otherwise choose a composition that naturally suits the subject. Use small grounding shadows where appropriate.
7) STYLE BOUNDARY
Transfer only the visual language. Do not import the reference image’s person, clothing, hairstyle, props, activity or setting unless independently requested by the INPUT. Do not reproduce compression artifacts or blur from the reference.
Avoid photorealism, 3D rendering, smooth vector outlines, polished digital gradients, glossy surfaces, heavy comic shading, saturated colours and uniform line weight. Do not add lettering, signatures, borders or watermarks unless requested.
Generate the finished image itself.
INPUT:
[Attach an image, insert a text prompt, or provide context here.]